Police also arrested her husband, Charleston Williams, 25, — Josiah Williams' biological father — on the same charge.

“We just didn't think it was that bad,” he said standing outside the police car that would take him to Bexar County Jail. “To all my family, I'm so sorry and I love y'all.”

Police spokeswoman Sandy Gutierrez said the pair were peacefully arrested on one felony charge each of injury to a child Friday afternoon.

“The medical examiner said there were signs of serious abuse, malnutrition and neglect,” she said.

Gutierrez said the medical examiner said bruising found all over Josiah Williams indicated “multiple falls in recent days,” but his parents didn't seek medical attention for any of his injuries.

Child Protective Services has taken custody of the couple's two other children — a 2-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, Gutierrez said. A hearing in their case will be Jan. 9.

Officials pronounced Josiah dead at the scene Thursday afternoon, shortly after he was found unresponsive at his home in the 3900 block of Gayle Avenue.

The Bexar County medical examiner's office performed an autopsy on the child Friday, but the cause of his death is pending and could take several weeks to determine.

Child Protective Services and law enforcement now are conducting a joint investigation into the case, DFPS spokesman John Lennan said.

This wasn't the first time suspicions had been raised about Josiah's well-being: CPS twice had investigated his biological mother on suspicion of neglect, Lennan said. Those cases didn't involve his current guardians.

In the first case, in 2008, no neglect was found. During the second neglect investigation in 2009, CPS offered Josiah's biological mother “services through the department,” which are provided in order to help parents address whatever needs they may face. During that process, Josiah's mother placed him with an appropriate relative. Lennan said it was not his biological father.

Although Josiah's mother didn't complete the CPS service plan, because Josiah's “safe care had been arranged” with another relative, CPS did not need to investigate further, Lennan said.

The agency wasn't referred to the family again until Thursday.

As authorities continued their investigation, neighbors on this quiet South Side street tried their best to piece together how this could have happened, on a block where children regularly play together outside. But few people knew anything about Josiah or his family.

“Five years old. That's just sad, man,” said neighbor James Kaiser, 23, who lives a few houses away from Josiah's home and saw EMS arrive.

Several neighbors said Josiah's family rented the house about a year ago. They'd either never seen the children or rarely did. Kaiser only remembered ever seeing two children, not a third.

On Friday, the house was decorated for Christmas with red and green tinsel and plastic snowflakes hanging from the porch roof.

Sandra Cortes, who lives across the street, sometimes waved to the man who lived at the house but he really never waved back, she said. Occasionally she heard the woman who lived in the house speak to the children “loud,” like when she told them to close the door.

But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Cortes remembered a pink sign outside the house announcing a child's birthday a few months back.

The last time she saw the family was Halloween. Two of the children were on foot, in costumes; another was in a stroller. They were accompanied by two women.

A Facebook page for Crystal Bell Williams, who also goes by Mrscharleston Williams, showed a woman in a photo with two children. A larger cover photo showed her with two children, a boy and girl, posing with Santa Claus.

In her Facebook bio, she wrote that “we have the best sons in the world, Nickie Boi who is 8 yrs old & Josiah (Siah) who is 5 yrs old.” She also referenced her 2-year-old daughter Kymmie.

In his Facebook bio, husband Charleston Williams said he has a “beautiful amazing wife named Crystal.” He also said that he's the “proud father of my son Nickieboi and my princess Kymmie.”

There is no mention of Josiah.

Friday afternoon, Gayle residents Blanca Degollado and her sister Melinda Flores showed up at Josiah's house, accompanied by their niece and three of Degollado's eight children. They didn't know him but still placed a small blue cross in front of the house.

A couple who Degollado and Flores didn't know showed up at the same time and placed an orange teddy bear beside the cross.